TEXAS grants on chopping block

Facing an $18 billion shortfall in the state budget, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked all state agencies to plan for possible 10 percent budget cuts.

For financial aid programs, that could mean 41,000 fewer students will receive TEXAS grants over the next biennium, according to Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.

That could severely limit progress on the state’s goal of producing more college graduates, especially among Hispanic and African-American populations, he said.

“We must not balance the budget on the backs of college students and their families at a time when they are struggling to survive the economic downturn,” Villarreal said.

That is exactly what many colleges and universities are already doing by raising tuition and fees — cutting financial aid would be a double whammy for low-income students.

“We must make sure that when we ‘tighten our belt,’ we don’t actually tighten the belt of families struggling to put their kids through college or put a chokehold on our economic growth,” Villarreal said.